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June 19, 2009

Mr. Darrell J. Topps, a 29 year old male black living at 141 Rice Avenue, in Bellwood, Illinois was charged with a count
of capital murder and two counts of attempted murder in the death of Keyana Bates while she was in a car in Forest Park.

It is still believed by the investigators that she was an accidental victim of a shooting that was meant for her boyfriend, the driver of the car. The other male with them in the car is said to have exited the car when he noticed the hit coming and warned them to get out of there and that's when the shots were fired from a semi-automatic pistol into the car. The man in the rear seat was unharmed, the driver wounded in the shoulder, and
Keyana Bates was murdered.

Forest Park police are also looking to have the driver of the
assassin be charged with an offense strongly related to the murder of the young girl. They did arrest a second person in
the event, though the Cook Count State's attorney's office did not approve charges more serious than resisting arrest which
only applies to actual June 19th event of being taken into custody. Tristan Agee, 24 years old, of 23 South 21st Avenue, in Maywood was charged with resisting arrest and was in violation of his parole for an earlier narcotics arrest (not
related to the event in Forest Park).

Perhaps these two young men are higher up in the gang
ranks, since often shooters are years younger than these two
gents. Police are being tight lipped about which of the
many gangs in Maywood these two are alledged to have histories with. They could be associated with the Gangster
Disciples, Vice Lords, 4 Corner Hustlers, Latin Kings, Mafia,
New Breeds, et cetera--all currently in Maywood and
Bellwood.

Forest Park Police have not released Bates' boyfriend's
identity. He is 18 and is reported to have been shot by the
same Topps who has been charged with shooting him again
this time. This mystery teenager who helped bring death to
his girlfriend has not yet learned about finding a new direction for his life. Darrell J. Topps has a reported lengthy criminal
rap sheet, one with some dozen convictions for illegal weapons.

It is believed that there were two other gangbangers in the
car that Topps and Agee drove into Forest Park for a
revenge killing.

Maywood's Word on their Local Gangs

Cold Blooded Killing in Forest Park Looks
Like a Revenge Score that Killed an Innocent.

Keyana Bates, 18 a college student at the University of
Illinois in Chicago was murdered by a concealed killer who reportedly approached the car that she was in with two other people, one a boyfriend. Her boyfriend, who remains unnamed was also shot and believed to be the target of the
homicide. His injuries were minor and he was released from
the hospital after a brief admittance. His girlfriend is dead
and killed by a bullet police believe was meant for him. His
name is being kept secret for the moment because of possible gang ties in the killing.

The shootings took place right near Station Park in Forest Park a little after 10:00 pm, at Desplaines and Harrison (towards York to the south). Keyana Bates had just been picked up by her boyfriend from her home in Maywood on
the 1600 block of south First Avenue. Jim Ryan, the Police
Chief of Forest Park is reported to have said that he feels
this is the act or beginning of a gang war with gangs from Maywood. This reported retaliation may be the settling of a score from a previous incident in Maywood or perhaps an escalation. The warmer weather and with young people
staying out until dawn makes for a dangerous mix of youth,
gangs, and getting even. The big problem with this
"getting even" scenario is that innocents pay the price for
the deeds of the guilty. The police are now looking intently for the killer(s) in this latest shooting.

It is believed that the killer was driven from Maywood to
do the killing in Forest Park. The gangs in Maywood and Bellwood have had issues with one another and other rival
gangs. The drug distribution from gangs in Maywood has
been a topic for years between police and prosecutors that
I have spoken with--the area needs to be cleaned up from
the gangs and the violence.

When the murderer approached the window of the parked
car he/she fired a clip of some 15 rounds into the vehicle.
One of the rounds went into the shoulder of the driver, the
boyfriend of the murder victim. The driver with a grazing
wound drove off and crashed into a fence, but he was too
late in driving away, he was too late to save his girl, and
perhaps too late for other things coming.

Keyana Bates, 18 was pronounced dead at 12:38 a.m.
at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood,
the same town the shooter probably came from.

This has been a very bad time for the town of Forest Park,
a town with great people, a friendly town, but also a town
with multiple murders, one in the town and one a resident
killed in Maywood.

On Sunday night, June 14th, a day before the murder of
Ms. Keyana Bates, a Forest Park teen was discovered
dead shortly after 3 a.m., his vehicle having crashed into
a tree, after being shot in the heart.

Johnathan Ollech, 18 a life long, well loved resident of
the 800 block of Ferdinand Avenue, (only some 2 blocks
away from the Keyana Bates murder) was murdered in Maywood. Johnathan Ollech was believed to have been
murdered and robbed in Maywood during an alleged drug transaction. Johnathan Ollech was found dead in his
SUV with a .22 caliber bullet lodged in his heart. The
killing happened in the area of 21st Ave. and Bataan
Drive in town of Maywood.

Two teens have been charged with the killing and armed robbery of Mr. Ollech. Quavortis Harris, 18, of Maywood and Joseph McKinnis, 17, of Chicago have been arrested
and charged with murder and armed robbery.

Mr. Ollech went to Proviso East High School in Maywood which rated 558th out of 604 in the Illinois State rankings.
A school which had Gemini and Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan graduate from it, now has 49% poverty rate for the
kids and is near the bottom for all test scores in the State.

A Maybrook Judge ordered Harris to be held without
bail, while McKinnis was ordered held in lieu of $1,000,000 bond. Both young men have been reported to have gang
affiliation with the black gangster disciples.

There is no official connection being given by the authorities to the two killings, but both are likely linked to drugs, gangs, and violence--in and from Maywood.

Keyana Bates

The official Press Release states:

Forest Park Police are investigating a shooting that occurred in the area of Desplaines and Harrison where two people were shot, one being killed. The victims were sitting in a vehicle at approximately 10:00 pm, when an unknown subject walked up and opened fire into the vehicle striking two of the three occupants.

Forest Park Detectives with the assistance of the West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force are currently investigating the incident. Further information will be forwarded when available.